Tsar 2009    star_border 6.3
In 16th-century Russia in the grip of chaos, Ivan the Terrible strongly believes he is vested with a holy mission. Believing he can understand and interpret the signs, he sees the Last Judgment approaching. He establishes absolute power, cruelly destroying anyone who gets in his way. During this reign of terror, Philip, the superior of the monastery on the Solovetsky Islands, a great scholar and Ivan's close friend, dares to oppose the sovereign's mystical tyranny. What follows is a clash between two completely opposite visions of the world, smashing morality and justice, God and men. A grand-scale film with excellent leading roles by Mamonov and Yankovsky. An allegory of Stalinist Russia

Practical Joke 2008    star_border 5.8
Remake film. Russian drama school domination. In the last quarter of graduating class comes a new student, violating all classifications, and an affront to the leader. That, in turn, is ready to do anything not to give up this title until the end of school days. How badly would not have had to deal with those who stand in his path to goal.